The present invention generally pertains to surgical consoles. More particularly, the present invention pertains to carts or other similar apparatus for the storage and transportation of such consoles.
Various carts for the storage and transportation of surgical consoles are known. Simple, open carts with several, stacked shelves are sometimes used for this application. The carts are typically made from metal or plastic, and may employ solid shelves or shelves formed from spaced, parallel members. Such carts are not specifically designed for the surgical console they serve, and provide little, if any, protection for the ancillary equipment and consumables that are used with the surgical console.
Other carts have been designed for medical applications. These carts typically have an external surface for supporting a surgical console, an internal frame made from metal with shelves and/or drawers to store the ancillary equipment and consumables used with the surgical console, and an outer housing disposed over the internal frame. The outer housing is typically constructed of multiple sheets of sheet metal or multiple plastic components, such as structural foam, fastened together with screws, rivets, or other conventional fastening apparatus. The sheet metal or plastic components are typically painted to provide a chemically resistant and aesthetically pleasing external surface. However, in the operating room environment, the painted sheet metal or plastic components are subject to exposure to a variety of medical and cleaning fluids that are corrosive to the cart. Such fluids can remove paint from the sheet metal or plastic surfaces over time. Such fluids also find their way, through the spaces or seams between the various sheets of sheet metal or plastic components, to the underlying metal frame and electronic apparatus stored therein. The metal frame and electronic apparatus are highly susceptible to corrosion and damage due to exposure to such fluids. All these problems are detrimental to the appearance and useful lives of the cart, surgical console, and the electronic apparatus stored within the cart. These problems are also highly inconvenient to the surgeon and his or her staff.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved cart for a surgical console that does not suffer from the above-described limitations. Ideally, the cart should also be easy for the surgeon and his or her staff to use, and should provide additional functional advantages to the surgeon.
The present invention is an improved cart for a surgical console. The cart includes a base, an internal frame coupled to the base, and an external housing substantially encasing the internal frame. The external housing comprises a single piece of molded plastic. The external housing prevents operating room fluid ingress into the internal frame. Therefore, the internal frame, its various portions, and the various electronic apparatus and consumables that are stored therein are protected from corrosion and damage.